An inkjet recording device records an image on a sheet of recording paper by ejecting ink droplets from a recording head thereon. Ink is generally contained in an ink tank provided in an ink cartridge, and supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head. Therefore, when the remaining amount of the ink in the ink cartridge is reduced, the ink cartridge needs to be replaced by a new one. Japanese Patent Publications hei 11-348303, hei 10-109427, 2004-345246, 2005-219416, and 2005-96446 disclose an inkjet recording device having a replaceable ink cartridge. Generally, the ink cartridge is loaded and fixed to a predetermined position in the casing provided in the inkjet recording device.
There are two types of ink cartridges: an on-carriage type and an off-carriage type, according to an arrangement of the ink cartridge in a casing of the inkjet recording device. The on-carriage type is an ink cartridge mounted on a carriage having a recording head which reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. In other words, a casing of the ink cartridge is attached to the carriage, and ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head in the carriage.
On the other had, the off-carriage type is an ink cartridge mounted in an other area except the carriage in the inkjet recording device. In this case, the ink cartridge and the casing are assembled as one unit, and the unit is then installed in the inkjet recording device. Therefore, ink is supplied from an ink tank in the ink cartridge to the recording head through an ink-supply tube. Such a kind of ink cartridge is generally referred to as “a refill unit”.
The casing of the refill unit is generally provided with a door. The door is closed when the ink cartridge is in the casing, so that the ink cartridge is reliably accommodated and held in the casing. An ink supply needle is provided in the casing, and the ink supply needle is inserted into the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is in the casing. The ink in the ink cartridge is fed to the recording head through the ink supply needle and the ink supply tube. Japanese Patent Publication hei 6-106730 discloses an inkjet recording device having a door for loading and unloading the ink cartridge from the casing. In this device, the door is open when the ink cartridge is replaced.
It is preferable that the operation of replacing the ink cartridge is performed by a user of the inkjet recording device easily and quickly. In other words, there is a demand that the used ink cartridge should be easily unloaded from the casing and a new ink cartridge should be easily loaded into the casing.